1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to a vessel treatment machine comprising a machine frame and a transport star, which is arranged on said machine frame such that it is adapted to be driven and which includes a star-shaped collar consisting of several outer star-shaped rings, which are arranged one on top of the other, and an inner flange plate, which is concentric with said star-shaped collar and which is located on the level of the lower star-shaped ring, the star-shaped collar being adapted to be secured to said flange plate via an inwardly directed rim and said flange plate being connected to a drive shaft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Vessel treatment machines provided with transport stars are used e.g. in bottle filling systems. The transport stars have the function of transporting the bottles, which arrive in a single file, to specific treatment stations. For this purpose, the outer circumference of said transport stars is provided with socalled star pockets, which are adapted to the respective bottle diameters. Hence, the transport stars have to be exchanged if other sizes or shapes of bottles are to be treated by the vessel treatment machine. This exchange of the vessel transport stars has been rather complicated up to now. Conventional transport stars are provided with two star-shaped plates spaced from each other by means of a spacer ring. Fastening of the transport star to the drive shaft and the flange plate, respectively, is effected by means of a central screw which is inserted into the transport star from above and tightened on the flange plate. In particular in the case of transport stars of some height, this type of fastening is rather complicated, since it is not easy to find the tapped hole provided in the flange plate. Moreover, these transport stars, which are constructed as solid components, are comparatively heavy and this makes an exchange of said stars more difficult.
In order to reduce the weight of said transport stars, attempts have already been made to produce them from rigid expanded plastics. Although the weight can thus be reduced, the fastening of the transport star is still as complicated as before.
Furthermore, German-Offenlegungsschrift No. 34 18 737 discloses a transport star, which is pushed onto a cylindrical column and which is pressed downwards onto a support ring, said pressure being applied from above by means of an annular rotational body. For the purpose of exchanging the transport star, it is first of all necessary to remove the rotational body and then the transport star has to be taken off along the column. This method, too, is complicated.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,176,557 discloses a transport star consisting of a star-shaped plate which is positioned on a flange plate. The flange plate is provided with three upwardly directed pins engaging holes of the star-shaped plate. If the direction of transport of the transport star is to be reversed, the star-shaped plate can be removed upwards and reattached to the pins after having been rotated by 180.degree.. A possibility of fastening the star-shaped plate to the flange plate is not provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,827,998 shows a transport star which is screwed on a flange of a hollow shaft. For the purpose of removing the transport star, it is first of all necessary to screw said transport star off said flange. The drive shaft must then be disassembled so that the transport star can be removed from the machine. In this case, too, the removal of the transport star is very complicated.
GB-pat. No. 660 700 discloses a vessel treatment machine of the type mentioned at the beginning in the case of which a flange plate is pushed onto a drive shaft and secured by means of a central screw. The outer rim of the flange plate has secured thereto the inner rim of a transport star via several screws. Fastening of the transport star together with the flange plate is effected through a central screw, which is screwed into the drive shaft and which, via a cover, presses from above onto the upper outer star-shaped ring of the transport star. Also this transport star entails the problem that, for exchanging the transport star, it is necessary to screw the central screw from above--while the view is obstructed by the cover--into the hole of the drive shaft. In addition to the fact that several time-consuming screwing operations are required, it is not easy to hit the tapped hole in the drive shaft with the screw.
Finally, German Utility Model 19 23 260 discloses a transport star which is screwed onto the drive shaft via a plate arranged in the area of the upper star-shaped ring. It is true that in the case of this transport star the fastening by means of screws is already less difficult than in the case of the preceding transport stars described, but it is more difficult to attach the transport star to the shaft, since the drive shaft has to be passed through an opening in the plate, the view being, however, obstructed by the transport star itself. Hence, in this case, too, the exchange of the transport star is comparatively time-consuming.